Queen Letizia wears Adolfo Domínguez dress and lavender espadrilles in Madrid

Queen Letizia just gave espadrilles the kind of royal backing that turns a summer shoe into a wardrobe argument. At the opening of the 85th Madrid Book Fair in El Retiro Park, she wore a pleated halter dress by Adolfo Domínguez and slipped into lavender canvas alpargatas with a natural raffia sole and tan ribbon ties. The effect was polished, not precious: exactly the kind of easy, sun-ready dressing that coastal-grandmother style keeps trying to claim, and here it looked fully endorsed by the palace.

The dress did a lot of the heavy lifting. It was a repeated wear from Letizia’s closet, a pleated midi with a halter neckline and ribbons crossing at the waist, first seen during the summer of the pandemic. Rewearing it now gives the look real credibility. This is not a one-off royal outfit built for the photograph and forgotten by dusk. It is a piece that has already earned its place, and that makes the whole ensemble feel smarter than something freshly unpacked for the occasion.

The shoe choice is what sealed it. Espadrilles, or alpargatas, are one of those deeply Spanish staples that can veer touristy fast if the proportions are off. Letizia avoided that trap by keeping the lines clean and the palette soft. The lavender canvas, raffia sole and ribbon ties read airy and deliberate, not beach-shop costume. Against Madrid’s heat, they were a practical move. Against the fair’s cultural backdrop, they carried extra weight: a Spanish shoe for a major Spanish literary event.

That context matters. The fair runs from May 29 to June 14, 2026, with humor as its central theme and around 300 booths filling the park. Letizia met young readers, authors and booksellers as she opened it, which made the outfit feel perfectly pitched for a public afternoon in Madrid rather than a ceremonial palace moment. The message is clear: the smartest warm-weather royal dressing is not about chasing novelty. It is about choosing the right Spanish designer, the right summer silhouette and the kind of espadrille that looks just as good in a city park as it does on a coastal walk.